Goat IV 2021

James Jean made this painting, "Goat IV," sometime in the 21st century, and looking at it, I see an embrace of process as much as image-making. The way colors bleed into each other and lines suggest forms that aren't quite there reminds me that art is as much about the journey as the destination. The colors here feel like a dream—reds that pop, yellows that soothe, and blues that ground the whole thing. The texture seems smooth, almost like it's been glazed over, which gives it this surreal, ethereal quality. Look closer, and you'll find these tiny details, little marks, and dots that seem to vibrate on the surface. It's these small, almost hidden gestures that give the work its life. Jean’s work makes me think of Yoshitaka Amano, who also blends the figurative and the fantastic. Ultimately, art is about embracing ambiguity and multiple meanings, right?